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Workplace Privacy Is An Issue for All of Us

Published: The Alton Telegraph, 4/15/02

These days, our privacy is at risk as never before. The new buzzwords appear frequently in news headlines and on magazine covers: medical privacy, consumer privacy, financial privacy. And this one: workplace privacy.

What is there to say about workplace privacy? Ironically, that there isn't any. That it doesn't exist. That there are no secrets in the workplace.

It's not hard to understand why the courts almost always side with the employer in issues of privacy. The company owns the buildings in which we work; the company owns the computers, telephones and fax machines on which we conduct the company's business; the company has hired us to spend our time doing its business--not our own.

Even so, the trends are disturbing. A recent study of 84 of the country's largest corporations by University of Illinois professor David Linowes revealed that nearly half the companies spy on their employees without informing them. Of those that do inform their employees, most don't tell them how the information collected is being used.

Another study by the American Management Association confirmed the extent of workplace monitoring. Of 906 employers participating, more than a third admitted to videotaping employees, reviewing voice mail, or checking computer files and E-mail. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the number of people being electronically monitored at work has increased to more than 20 million.

If you are an employee, it is easy to figure out how to conduct yourself these days. Assume you are being watched.

What's most disturbing is that many breaches of employee privacy clearly amount to violations of personal freedom. Selling financial information to credit card companies, for example. Denying promotions based on hearsay found in employee medical records (available to employers that are self-insured). Videotaping employees in restrooms.

Though companies should not have the right to do these things without an employee's knowledge, regulation of workplace privacy is scarce. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 prohibits employers from listening to personal phone calls unless the employee is told the line is monitored. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires employers to obtain written consent from job applicants before looking into their credit history.

But that's about it. It is legal to secretly read our E-mail, even when it involves our personal business; legal to watch what's happening on our computer terminals, even from a distant location; legal to videotape our activities, even without our knowledge.

Although the Privacy for Consumer and Workers Act, introduced in Congress at least twice, has never passed, a uniform federal law is still a good idea. The working model would be one of minimum intrusiveness. Companies would be required to justify each encroachment on privacy with a valid business purpose. Remedies would be available against companies that cross the line.

Besides urging our congressmen to reintroduce federal legislation, is there anything else we can do? Perhaps. Whenever possible, we should inquire about a potential employer's privacy policy, and make our job decisions, in part, based on what we learn. Books for job seekers rate employers on location, pay, vacation benefits. Why not on the recognition of employee privacy?

Written privacy policies also have much to offer. A good policy should inform workers how they are being monitored, why this data is necessary, and how it will be used. Once in writing, the use of this data should be limited to its stated purpose.

Privacy is an issue for all of us. According to recent studies, nearly a third of our citizens have experienced a serious invasion of their financial, medical or personal privacy. More than three-quarters report being concerned about the growing threat to privacy.

Does workplace privacy exist? It should. When invasions to privacy are widespread, arbitrary, and deliberate, we are confronted with a problem that demands our attention--and a swift solution.